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The Home Depot Inc. confirmed Monday that its payment data systems have been breached, potentially affecting customers who used cards at U.S. and Canadian stores, dating as far back as April.

“While the company continues to determine the full scope, scale and impact of the breach, there is no evidence that debit PIN numbers were compromised,” according to a company press release.

“Home Depot’s investigation is focused on April forward, and the company has taken aggressive steps to address the malware and protect customer data.”

The company said there is no evidence that the breach has affected stores in Mexico or customers who shopped online at HomeDepot.com.

The company is offering free identity protection services, including credit card monitoring, to any customer who used a payment card at a Home Depot store in 2014, from April on.

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“We apologize for the frustration and anxiety this causes our customers, and I want to thank them for their patience and support as we work through this issue,” said Frank Blake, chairman and chief executive officer, in the release.

“We owe it to our customers to alert them that we now have enough evidence to confirm that a breach has indeed occurred. It’s important to emphasize that no customers will be responsible for fraudulent charges to their accounts.”

Home Depot is the latest U.S. retailer to suffer a data breach from hackers, following attacks at Target Corp., Supervalu Inc. and Neiman Marcus Group Ltd. As the list of victims lengthens, the retail industry is under escalating pressure to improve the security of computer systems and credit cards.

The company’s shares fell 0.3 per cent to $91.57 (U.S.) at 4:49 p.m. New York time. They had gained 10 per cent for the year through the close in regular trading.

The retailer said last week that it was investigating the matter after independent journalist Brian Krebs reported on Sept. 2 that hackers may have stolen customer data and made counterfeit credit and debit cards.

Atlanta-based Home Depot had been on a roll with the rebounding housing market helping lift sales. The stock rose to an all-time high on Aug. 29, the last trading day before the retailer acknowledged a breach may have occurred.

Now Home Depot is working to restore confidence with its customers while also transitioning to a new chief executive officer. Craig Menear, the chain’s president of U.S. retail, will succeed Blake on Nov. 1. Blake, who took over in 2007, will remain chairman of the board.

According to Home Depot, the investigation began on Tuesday morning, Sept. 2, immediately after the company received reports from its banking partners and law enforcement that criminals may have hacked its payment data systems.

“Since then, the company’s internal IT security team has been working around the clock with leading IT security firms, its banking partners and the Secret Service to rapidly gather facts and provide information to customers,” according to the company press release.

“Responding to the increasing threat of cyber-attacks on the retail industry, The Home Depot previously confirmed it will roll out EMV “Chip and PIN” to all U.S. stores by the end of this year, well in advance of the October 2015 deadline established by the payments industry.”

According to Bloomberg analysts Drew Reading and Poonam Goyal, the impact on future traffic at Home Depot may be muted compared to the impact of the breach at Target, which announced its breach during the much busier holiday shopping season.

“Home Depot’s key selling season is now behind it, which may help mitigate the effect from dented consumer confidence,” noted Reading and Goyal.

“Data breaches tend not to have lasting effects on retailer stock price. Target, for example, fell 11 per cent in the month-and-a-half after its breach and has since recouped most losses. While details of the recent breach at Home Depot have been scarce, the stock fell 4.8 per cent in the following two days, yet have recovered almost two per cent since, indicating that there may be less concern regarding longer-term business risk, absent further details.”

The Home Depot is the world’s largest home improvement specialty retailer, with 2,266 retail stores in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico.

In fiscal 2013, The Home Depot had sales of $78.8 billion (U.S.) and earnings of $5.4 billion

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